I can no longer access the printer (Epson 600) from my desktop

Resolved Question:

I can no longer access the printer (Epson 600) from my desktop (Mac OS 10.6.8). Have tried turning the printer on and off; rebooting the computer; reloading the printer software; upgrading from both Apple and Epson websites - nothing works. Every time I try to print, I get the message:rastertoescpII failedWhat can I do??

This problem is quiet common and many people using Macs are facing it. Usually after an update.

Kamil Anwar :

Once it has been downloaded please run through the installation of the gutenprint drivers.

Then go to System Preferences -> Print and Scan, Select the printer, select Options & Supplies, then select Driver and then select the appropritate gutenprint driver for your printer in the Print Using dialgog box.

Customer:

download a free trial?

Kamil Anwar :

This is free

Kamil Anwar :

Are you running the correct program?

Kamil Anwar :

Please Click Here the download should begin automatically and the name of the file is gutenprint-5.2.9.dmg

I haven't yet done what you said above about select the printer etc, let me try that now

Kamil Anwar :

Please try and let me know. I'll be here.

Customer:

OK, I"ve got as far as the Print Using dialog box but how do I enter the gutenprint driver?

Kamil Anwar :

If you click the dropdown, you should be able to see Gutenprint

Customer:

I see generic PCL laser printer, then select printer software. I clicked on that but it doesn't include gutenprint. There's also other - I tried that and can see gutenprint in my downloads but it's grayed out so I can't enter it

Kamil Anwar :

Did you see the setup screen for Gutenprint installing?

Customer:

Sorry, sorry, I see Apollo includes gutenprint - just a sec

Kamil Anwar :

Ok

Customer:

Right, Epson +gutenprint but now I don't see Epson 600...

Customer:

Hey, I think I've done it, so far so good

Kamil Anwar :

Is it working now?

Customer:

Shall I try to print something and see if it works?

Kamil Anwar :

Yes

Customer:

Printer is not in my dock, I can't find it!

Kamil Anwar :

Did you chose Apollo there?

Customer:

No, I chose Epson, I found Workforce 600 so it should be OK

Kamil Anwar :

In the Print & Fax view of System Preferences, select the Printer tab and then highlight your printer. Then press the Print Queue button to make the queue appear, which will make it also appear in the dock. If you want to keep the icon in the dock, Control click on the icon and select 'Keep In Dock'.

Customer:

btw, when I open preferences, it says it's and Epson 6271

Kamil Anwar :

Epson 6271 ? Are you sure?

Customer:

Yep, Epson 6271EO (IP)

Kamil Anwar :

In the Print & Fax view of System Preferences, select the Printer tab, What do you see there?

Customer:

Also says Epson Workforce 600 - CUPS+Gutenprint but I just selected that a few minutes ago

Kamil Anwar :

That's the one that should be selected.

Customer:

the printer tab on the left? It says Epson6271EO, then green dot and Idle

Kamil Anwar :

Please perform the steps below and then see if Epson6271IEO appears on the dock, then re-try printing.

Kamil Anwar :

In the Print & Fax view of System Preferences, select the Printer tab and then highlight your printer. Then press the Print Queue button to make the queue appear, which will make it also appear in the dock. If you want to keep the icon in the dock, Control click on the icon and select 'Keep In Dock

Customer:

It's in the dock but when I click on the icon, it does not offer Keep in Dock

Kamil Anwar :

Did you press Control key and then clicked it?

Customer:

It says Printer Ready but there's a red exclamation mark on the Hold icon and I can't make it go away

Kamil Anwar :

You need to hold the control key on the keyboard and then Click on it.

Customer:

No, I didn't press Control, will try again

Customer:

Right, I've done that

Kamil Anwar :

What are the results ?

Customer:

tried to print again but it does not come up in the print queue, printer just does not respond

Customer:

It still says Hold

Kamil Anwar :

Please disconnect the printer

Kamil Anwar :

and re-start the mac.

Kamil Anwar :

then re-connect the printer.

Customer:

Disconnect or just turn off?

Kamil Anwar :

Disconnect it, turn it off. Restart Mac, turn the printer on and then reconnect it.

Customer:

I've turned it off. Will now restart the Mac - will you still be there??

Kamil Anwar :

Yes, please bookmark this page, or you can login to JustAnswer and open the same question.

Kamil Anwar :

Is the red exclamation mark still there?

Customer:

I'm back, have restarted the Mac, will now turn the printer on - oh yikes, when you said disconnect, you meant disconnect printer from Mac? I didn't do that. Actually, um, don't know how - was that a crucial step?

Customer:

Yes, the red exclamation mark is still there

Customer:

but I haven't turned the printer back on, let me do that first

Kamil Anwar :

Ok

Customer:

Red mark still there

Kamil Anwar :

Can you delete the printer and re-add it, when you re-add it add it using the Guten driver.

Customer:

I tried printing again and saw the order flash up on the Epson, then immediately disappear

Customer:

OK, let me delete and re-add

Kamil Anwar :

Thanks

Customer:

I think I've done that - I added the guten driver but it doesn't say that on the Print & Fax screen, still says just Epson6271EO

Customer:

I'll try another print job

Kamil Anwar :

Please try

Customer:

No, still a red hold mark but I hear the printer spluttering (it's in another room). Job doesn't appear on the Epson screen

Customer:

says ink/toner is almost empty

Kamil Anwar :

Is it possible to try connecting the printer directly via the USB cable?

Kamil Anwar :

If the printer is spluttering, then this may mean that the printer is working but the cartridges are low.

Customer:

Sigh. I can look into the cartridges, will take a minute

Kamil Anwar :

Thanks

Customer:

And I don't think it's possible to connect via the USB cable given that it's in a different room

Kamil Anwar :

No problem, please check the ink levels.

Customer:

This is bizarre, I went to the printer to check the ink and found the printing job I had just ordered had in fact printed out

Kamil Anwar :

So is it working now?

Customer:

The printer does not indicate any inks are low, so why does it say that on my Epson screen here and why is there still a red hold mark?

Kamil Anwar :

The red mark needs to be troubleshooted, but just to to re-confirm, can you send another print to see if that comes out fine so we can be sure that the printer infact is working.

Customer:

I ordered another print job and I can here it printing. On the icon in the dock, there is a big question mark and I can't open it to see

Customer:

computer suddenly crashed and then returned

Kamil Anwar :

Is the exclamation mark red in color?

Customer:

It was, but I can't open the printer icon any more

Customer:

It printed fine but I can't see anything about the print job on my screen

I can see it says document successful - that's these two pages I printed out just minutes ago. the only problems now are : question mark over the printer icon in the dock and the fact that it now doesn't show up on my screen when I order a print, and I can't open the icon

Kamil Anwar :

What doesn't show up on the screen?

Customer:

If I order a print job, it doesn't show it on my computer, but it is in fact printing

Kamil Anwar :

Return to the Print & Scan preferences pane. Now Control-click (Right-click) the name of the printer to bring up its contextual menu. From the list of items, select Reset printing system.

Customer:

I've done that, now I see an Add Printer window

Kamil Anwar :

Now re-add the printer using the correct guten driver

Customer:

It lists two, one Bonjour and one Epson TCPIP.

Customer:

done

Kamil Anwar :

Did it show the guten driver?

Kamil Anwar :

Is the printer added now?

Customer:

I can now open the printer icon in the dock. Yes, the printer is added. Hey, the question mark over the icon has gone away

Kamil Anwar :

Great. Please test a print.

Customer:

Not printing. Alas. I can open the icon and it says Printer Ready, but nothing has happened.

Kamil Anwar :

When you re-added the printer, did you select the guten driver (as before)?

Customer:

Yes, I'm pretty sure I did

Kamil Anwar :

Now simply delete and re-add the printer, also re-start the printer. Does it shows idle sign or something with the printer in the Print & Prefs menu?

Customer:

I have gone back a step, went to Print and Fax, and right-clicked on the printer and hit Reset printing system. Now I see 3 Epsons, I'm choosing the same as before, Epson with gutenprint and have added it

Kamil Anwar :

Great.

Customer:

I have gone back through the same steps and made sure the guten Epson was added. When I open Print Queue, it still has the red mark over Hold

Kamil Anwar :

Try a print to see if it works.

Customer:

No, it's not printing

Kamil Anwar :

When you readded the printer, did you select TCP/IP or Bonjour?

Customer:

TCP/IP

Kamil Anwar :

Can you restart the Mac

Kamil Anwar :

Also is the printer in idle mode or hold?

Kamil Anwar :

Did you try clicking on the Resume button?

Customer:

OK. I notice one thing - when I order a print job, if I click on the printer on the order screen, it says "location unknown". Is that significant? The printer says it is on hold. Yes, I've tried clicking on the Resume button. That's where it says Pause. But the red mark is over Hold

Customer:

OK, I've restarted

Kamil Anwar :

Still on hold?

Customer:

Printer icon still showing red mark on hold

Kamil Anwar :

You stated earlier that it showed 3 Epsons

Kamil Anwar :

What were the names of those 3 epsons ?

Customer:

Um, have to redo what I did before to find them, but one was Bonjour, two were IP and I think one of the two was my husband's printer hookup. I selected the other one IP

It's printing, but did not show up as printing on my screen and there's a still a red mark over Hold

Kamil Anwar :

When you were adding the printer, did you select the lock icon at the bottom (and entered the administrator password XXXXX ?

Customer:

No, I dont see a red mark because I can't open the printer icon in the dock. Yes, there is a red mark if I go to the printer queue through print and fax

Customer:

I did not select the lock icon. I did enter the administrator password XXXXX the computer

Kamil Anwar :

You can control click the printer to select (keep in dock), it will then appear in dock.

Customer:

The icon is in the dock but if I click on it , it doesnt open

Kamil Anwar :

Did it open before ?

Customer:

Yes

Kamil Anwar :

Few days back when the printer was working.

Customer:

It's printing again but I still see the red hold mark

Kamil Anwar :

Can you go back to Print & Fax, right click on the other printers there and move them to dock (by selecting keep in dock)

Kamil Anwar :

All of them whatever appears there

Customer:

There's only printer under Print and Fax now, it's the Epson last used. The only way I saw the other names was by resetting the printer

Customer:

only one printer, I mean

Kamil Anwar :

I believe that printer is working fine because it is not giving any errors. If the red mark is for this printer, then it shouldn't have printed.

Kamil Anwar :

What is the name of the printer on dock?

Customer:

I don't get it. Yes, I seem to be able to order a print job from my computer. But when I open the print queue it shows a red hold mark and I can't open the printer icon in the dock and I can't see the print order on my computer screen although what I order prints out. the printer in the dock is Epson6271EO (IP)

Kamil Anwar :

Great. So that is the incorrect printer you are seeing there, we have the correct printer setup to print but it is not just shown there.

Kamil Anwar :

Are you able to see the name of the printer through Word?

Customer:

OK. Should I take that printer out of the dock?

Kamil Anwar :

Yes

Customer:

You mean, if I'm in Word and try to order a print job?

Kamil Anwar :

Yes

Customer:

I've removed the printer from the dock

Kamil Anwar :

Thats fine.

Kamil Anwar :

Try to print from word and see if you can see the name of the printer.

Customer:

In Word, it says Epson6271. My husband is now printing something from his desktop, he says the print order does not say 6271, it says Epson Workforce 600

Customer:

He also sees a red mark over Hold, but prints OK

Customer:

But on the Print and Fax page, although it lists the printer as Epson6271, under Location, Kind: isEpson Workforce 600+gutenrprint

Kamil Anwar :

I am checking something, two minutes.

Kamil Anwar :

Is the hold clickable or greyed out

Customer:

Should I click on the lock? that wouldn't make any difference, would it? I'll wait for you. but I have to go out soon.

Kamil Anwar :

Are you able to click on the hold or is it just greyed out?

Customer:

It's greyed out.

Kamil Anwar :

:)

Kamil Anwar :

It's not pointing to any error then.

Kamil Anwar :

It is just there and has been.

Kamil Anwar :

It becomes clickable when there is a problem.

Customer:

Do you mean that 'greyed out with an exclamation point in upper right' is the normal appearance?

Kamil Anwar :

Yes

Kamil Anwar :

If it becomes clickable, only then it means there is a problem.

Kamil Anwar :

You have sent me the log files, and we've seen it. It doesn't states any error or problem either.

Kamil Anwar :

If there was a problem, then the printer would not have printed.

Customer:

It prints but doesn't report

Kamil Anwar :

The drivers are updated.

Customer:

SO, why doesn't it do what it used to: XXXXX XXXXX many pages printed, show the queue?

Kamil Anwar :

Can you go to System Preferences -> Print & Fax

Kamil Anwar :

then try and send a print to see if it shows this there?

Kamil Anwar :

We can try one more thing but because we are using the updated drivers, this has changed.

Kamil Anwar :

The previous drivers do not work because mac has been updated.

Kamil Anwar :

Can you go to OSX Applications folder?

Kamil Anwar :

and open the Utilities Folder

Customer:

Yes, it does print that way, thru Print/Fax

Customer:

Utilities open

Kamil Anwar :

Open the Printer Setup Utility

Kamil Anwar :

What happens when you double click the printer from there?

Customer:

Not in the list.

Kamil Anwar :

Alright.

Kamil Anwar :

Probably, new drivers.

Kamil Anwar :

If you revert to old drivers from Epson, the printer will not work, but the progress bar will appear.

Kamil Anwar :

So we have now the new drivers, and this is the reason we don't see some of the features.

Customer:

More important to be able to print. I'm going to call it a win. Kamil, I have to go now. thanks a lot for all your help and advice. Main thing is, you got the printer access back for me! so, thanks!

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